Medicinal marijuana grower still awaiting trial

By: John Miller - The Independent - 02/05/03

Dianne Bruce is frustrated by her 15 months in legal limbo.

Since she was arrested in October, 2001, life has been one court appearance after another for the Cramahe Township woman, who was caught growing medical marijuana to help more than 50 people who have legal exemptions from Health Canada to use the drug.

The single mother of two was back in Cobourg court last Friday, hoping to get charges dropped against her 19-year-old daughter Michelle, who happened to be home during the police raid and, like herself, has had charges of possession, growing and trafficking hanging over her head ever since.

Instead, all charges against Bruce, her daughter and Bruce's former partner, Jerry Kesoja, were put over until March 3. Unless something happens then, they will face trial in September -- nearly two years after the raid raised troubling questions about the legal framework that allows seriously ill Canadians to use marijuana to relieve their pain.

"I didn't get what I wanted today," Bruce said after Regional Senior Justice Brian Shaughnessy met with her lawyer, David McCaskill, and special federal prosecutor Doug Mann. Neither McCaskill nor Michelle's lawyer, John Whelton, would comment on what was discussed behind closed doors.

However, Bruce told The Independent that in November she turned down a deal to plead guilty to possession of 40 pounds of marijuana and pay a fine of $1,500. She turned it down, she said, because she didn't want her daughter to have a criminal record, nor did she agree with the amount of marijuana police say they seized from her home.

"The only thing I'm guilty of is giving an ear to a sick person," she said. "I tried to help where the government wouldn't."

She said her 56 former clients, some from as far away as Prince Edward Island and Alberta, were too sick to grow their own marijuana. They suffer from AIDs, glaucoma, degenerative disk problems and cancer. Bruce herself is on disability suffering from intestinal illness and severe neck and back injuries. Ironically, her own application for an exemption to use marijuana was granted two weeks after her arrest.

Fewer than 800 Canadians have managed to navigate the bureaucratic red tape required to secure a legal exemption from Health Canada, allowing them to possess marijuana for medical purposes. To do so, they need to convince a doctor that their condition needs to be treated with marijuana. The Canadian Medical Association, however, has warned its members that authorizing this could put them at odds with their professional regulators, because marijuana is considered an "alternative" treatment. As a result, most doctors are refusing to sign the necessary forms.

Bruce is campaigning against the "Catch 22" aspect of the federal regulations. They allow sick people to grow or possess a 30-day supply of marijuana for their own use, but give them no access to a legal supply. This forces patients who can't grow their own to rely on illegal drug dealers, whose product is expensive, unreliable and sometimes unsafe. Although the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations allow exemptees to designate others to grow for them, few such permits have been granted. Growers are limited to no more than three patients, and they are not allowed to receive any payment. If the patient lives more than a drive away from his or her designated grower, Health Canada has been refusing permits on the grounds that the shipping of marijuana is illegal in Canada.

As hard as it's been for Bruce to keep up her fight -- "we didn't have Christmas this year; I couldn't afford it" -- the law may be changing in her favour.

Last month, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the federal medical access regulations are unconstitutional. It gave Ottawa six months to either offer patients a government-controlled supply of marijuana, or else change Canada's drug laws to allow possession of small amounts of the drug.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has promised to introduce new marijuana laws in the spring, including the decriminalization of possession of small amounts for personal use.

As well, Ottawa is being challenged by a Windsor judge's dismissal of a marijuana charge against a 16-year-old boy in early January, after his lawyer successfully argued that there was no valid law in Canada prohibiting the possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana. Lawyer Brian McAllister said Ottawa did not adequately deal with a ruling two years ago by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which said the possession law violates the rights of sick people using marijuana for medical reasons. That court gave Ottawa one year to change the law, but its response was the medical access regulations, which have been widely criticized for being cumbersome, unfair, and loaded down with red tape.

So Dianne Bruce's case goes to the heart of a national debate over marijuana.

"People tell me 'Oh, you have the legal right to grow marijuana.' They don't ask how many times I've been arrested and have to go to court because I've tried to do it."

Bruce is facing her own personal Catch 22. Health Canada allows her to grow marijuana for personal medical use, but the conditions of her bail specifically prohibit it. Also, if she pleads guilty to any drug charge as part of a plea-bargain deal, her Health Canada exemption could be revoked. Rules say anyone found guilty of a charge under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act can be suspended.

So, she campaigns against a law she considers unjust. "I smoke (marijuana) on all the courtroom steps," she says. "That's part of being an activist."